Thanks to a brilliant basis in the first half, Brazilian club Pinheiros have taken the fifth place at the IHF Super Globe. The catch-up race of Al-Sadd from Qatar was not successful.
 
Super Globe 2011, placement match 5/6:
Clube Esporte Pinheiros (BRA) – Al-Sadd (QAT) 39:36  (25:18)
 
Both teams completely focused on the attack in the first half – and forgot about their defence, especially Super Globe host Al-Sadd. Pinheiros played with full speed and high efficiency in attack. The Qataris played with less spirit and less concentration compared to the days before. So surprisingly the Brazilians not only took the lead, but also extended it very easily – from 5:2 to 14:7 under the motto ‘goals, goals, goals’. It took only 14 minutes when 20 goals had been scored – and it continued like this until the break. Pinheiros were highly motivated – and even pre-decided the game before the half-time whistle, also thanks to some saves of their strong goalkeeper Maik dos Santos. After Al-Sadd had improved in attack for some minutes and reduced the gap, Pinheiros stroke back and achieved a nine-goal difference (25:16) in minute 28 by several counter attacks. At the break the impressive number of 1.5 goals per minute had been scored by the opponents.
 
Al-Sadd coach Ahmed Deabes seemed to have found the right words in the dressing room, as right after the break his team started to take the game much more serious. Within seven minutes the difference of seven goals was reduced to three (23:26) – and the Qataris still had enough time to turn the game around, as they played much more aggressive and dynamic in defence. Pinheiros had problems to cope with this new defence strategy of their opponent. But the wing positions were still the weakest part of Al-Sadd, and Pinheiros adapted their tactics to score from the sides – and they kept the distance at four to five goals until minute 54. Al-Sadd mostly counted on single actions of their recruited back court players after the break – and in the final stage their catch-up race became more successful: Thanks to a triple strike of left wing Gergö Ivancsik, Al-Sadd achieved the 35:37 in minute 56 and could hope for a victory again. But by losing two easy balls and missing an additional chance, they finally missed the chance to win.

Statements after the match:
Sergio Hortelan, coach Pinheiros:  We are absolutely happy with this match and our performance in Doha. In the first half we played excellently, but we knew that Al-Sadd would come closer after the break. We learnt the lesson from the former matches when we lost despite a great lead. This time we could stand the catch-up race.
Aleph Palma, player Pinheiros: At first we were strong in defence and counter attacks. Our idea was not to be overtaken by Al-Sadd – and we managed to do so. We had preserved our powers to be successful.
Ahmed Deabes, coach Al-Sadd: We had studied the Brazilian team – and our idea after the break was to overtake them. And we had the opportunities, but failed too often in the final stage by missing 100 per cent chances.
Mubarak Awad: The gap was too big to be reduced completely. Four matches in five days didn’t allow us to show more from the physical point of view.